IRS issues guidance on qualified transportation fringe benefit expenses

The Internal Revenue Service yesterday issued interim guidance regarding the treatment of qualified transportation fringe benefit expenses paid or incurred after Dec. 31, 2017. The new rules assist taxpayers in determining the amount of parking expenses that are no longer tax deductible; and help tax-exempt organizations determine how these nondeductible parking expenses create or increase unrelated business taxable income. “A key part of this guidance is a special rule, enabling many employers to retroactively reduce the amount of their nondeductible parking expenses,” the agency said. “Under this rule, employers will have until March 31, 2019, to change their parking arrangements to reduce or eliminate the number of parking spots they reserve for their employees. By making this change, many churches, schools, hospitals and other tax-exempt organizations may be able to reduce their associated UBTI.” The IRS also announced that it will provide estimated tax penalty relief in 2018 to tax-exempt organizations that offer these benefits and were not required to file a Form 990-T last filing season.